Antithreshold automatic weather-strip.



P. M. WIOKSTRUM. ANTITHEESHOLD AUTOMATIC WEATHER STRIP. APPLIGATIGZIF11? JUNE 28, 1912.

1,054, 1 58, Patented Feb. 25, 1913.

llll/l/f ////7/IIIIIIIIIII/I Kg j/v Attorneys UNITED STATESrnrnnronricn.

rn'rna 1a. wrcxsrnuia, or LINCOLN, nnsnns'xnp anrrrnnnsnonoaoromrroW'EATHE Ra-STRJR- Application filed June 28, 1912. Serial No. 706,52

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, PETER WIo'K STRUM, a citizen of the United States,residin at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster an State of Nebraska,have invented a new and useful Antithreshold Automatic Weather- Strip,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to weather-strips for doors and contemplates theprovision of a weather strip carried by the lower end of a door whichshall be raised when the door is in open position and which shall beautomatically depressed against the threshold or floor when the door isclosed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a weathers/trip and meansfor raising and lowerin same when the door is opened or closed, whichshall be incased wit-hm the lower end of the door, so as to be hiddenfrom view, and to eliminate encumbering the door.

The present invention also aims for the production of a device of thecharacter indicated, which shall be simple, durable, substantial andinexpensive in construction, which shall be simple, convenient andefiicient in operation, which is adjustable so as to depress the weatherstrip more or less, and which shall be applicable to various doors.

With the foregoing general objects outlined, and with other objects in,view as will be apparent as the invention is better understood, thepresent invention resides p in the novel construction and combination ofparts hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the appended claims, itbeing understood that this device is subject to alterations ordeviations in its details within the scope of the appended claimswithout departin from the spirit of the inventionr In t e accompanyinferred embodiment o the invention has been illustrated, similarreference characters having been employed to denote corresponding parts.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 a fragmental perspective of a portion of thehinged ed e of the door and door jamb em bodyin the present invention.Fig. 2 is a reduced sectional detail taken vertically through the lowerend of the door. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the presentdevice, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section. Fig. 4is a sectional edge of the door,

drawings, the. PIG-Q detail taken on the line 4- 4 of Fig.3, the sectionbeing on a reduced scale.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the door has been designated by theletter D; and the jamb to which the door is hinged by the letter J.

- Patented Feb. 25,1913.

carrying out the invention, the door D Y is provided with a recess 5 inits lower end extend ng from edge to edge, and face plates 6 and 6' areattached to the edges of the door over the ends of the recess 5." Theplate 6 is attached to the edge of the .door which is hinged to the doorjamb and the plate 6 is attached to the free or swingin the said platesbeing pre erably attached to the door, by*means of wood screws 22 Therespective 'lates 6 and 6 have the opposite bushings which project intothe recess 5 and have bores 9 and 9 extending therethrough and throughthe bushings.

and 7" The said plates 6 and 6 are also provided'with open slots 17 intheir lower ends. The inner ends of the bores 9 and 9", or thoseportions of the said bores within the bushings 7 and '7', are

enlarged and square vor non-circular-in contour as designated by thenumerals .8 and 8,,

'the bushing '2" having a' partition 10" between the enlarged portion8'of thebore 9 and the outer port-ion of the bore, and the enlargedportion 8 of the bore 9 forming an inwardly facing shoulder or seat 10within the bushing 7.

Bearing'blocks 1 1 and 11' are slidably mounted 1n the bushings 7 and 7,respectively, the said bearing blocks being square or non-circular incontour to correspond with the inner portions or sockets 8 and 8" of therespective bores. The said bearing blocks 11 and 11' are provided withthe respective sockets .12 v and 12' in their inner ends, and thebearingblocloll is arranged tonormal'ly' seat against the shoulder 10,thereby'preventing the outward movement of the'bearing block 11 beyond.the said.

shoulder.

A screw 14 is engaged into athreaded'jsocket 13 in the outer 'end of thebearing block 11 and has its outer end or head 15 projecting beyond thecorresponding edge of the door, a jam or binding nut 16 being mounted onthe screw 14 to contact with the block 11 so as to lock the screw 14 inany adjusted position to which it is set.

A screw 14 is engaged into a screwthreaded socket 13 in the outer end ofthe This rod 21 may be of any suitable material and gage so as toprovide the proper resiliency or flexibility, and is of a lengthsuitable for the particular door to which it applied.

A strip or head 18 has its ends engaging in the slots 17 of the faceplates 6 and 6 and has its upper edge contracted longitudinally andprovided with a tubular portion 19 through which the intermediate portion of the rod passes. This strip or head 18 is arranged Within therecess 5 and the rod 21 in passing through the tubular por- I tion 19supports the same. Aweather strip or nearly straight,

20 of rubber or other suitable flexible material is secured to the loweredge of the head 18, the length of the head 18 and weather strip 20being equal to the width of the particular door to which they areapplied.

metallic button or contact plate 23 is secured to the door j amb J towhich the door is hinged, and is preferably flush therewith and isdesigned to lie in the path of the head 15 of the'screw 14. This buttonor plate 23, however, is attached to the door amb, primarily to preventwear and to eliminate marring or injuring the door jamb, and may bedispensed with if desired.

In the operation of the present device, the intermediate portion of therod 21 will be normally raised when the door is open, so as to raise orelevate the weather strip and retract the same within the lower end ofthe door, the rod 21 assuming a straight, position. Then as the door isclosed, the screw 14 will contact with the door jamb J or the contactplate 23 which will cause the bearing block 11 to be forced inwardly, inwhich event, the rod 21 will be flexed downwardly at its intermediateportion in order to depress the head 18 and the weather strip 20', sothat the weather strip 20 contacts with the threshold or floor. As soonas the door in swung open, the rod 21 being flexible or resilient, willassume a normal straight line, or nearly straight line, position,thereby sliding the bearing block 11 outward against the seat 10 toproject the screw 14 beyond the edge of the door and to again raise orretract the weather strip. In this manner, it will be seen thatrota-i158 the weather strip is normally raised when the door is opened,and when the door is closed, the weather strip will be automaticallydepressed against the threshold or door so as to prevent the ingress oregress of currents of air underneath the door when the same is closed.The weather strip when depressed also excludes rain, snow, sleet and thelike, and serves to efi'ectually close the gap between the lower end ofthe door and the threshold or floor when the door is closed. It willalso appear that the lower end of the door, may be spaced more or lessfrom the floor so that the door will escape rugs, carpets or the likelying, on the floor, the weather strip also being raised when the dooris swung open so as not to interfere with objects on the floorunderneath the door.

The bearing block 11 may be adjusted within the bushing 7 by rotatingthe screw 14, so that the rod 21 will assume a proper or slightlydownwardly bowed position, when the door is opened, in order that therod will be properly flexed downwardly I when the door is closed. Thescrew 14 may also be adjusted so as to project more or less from theedge of the door in order that the rod 21 will be sufliciently flexedwhen the door is closed in order to depress the Weather strip againstthe threshold or floor.

The present device is simple, durable, substantial and inexpensive inconstruction and may be applied to various doors in a convenient andready manner without encumbering the door to which it is applied, andthe device is also adjustable to suit the varying circumstances. Thepresent device is also sensitive for the reason that a slight inwardthrust of the screw 14 will buckle or flex the rod 21 to a considerableextent at its intermediate portion so as to lower or depress the weatherstrip, it being noted that the screw 14 may be adjusted so as to spanthe space or gap between the edge of the door and the jamb when the dooris closed. It will be apparent, that the weather strip in beingdepressed may dispense with the threshold entirely so that the E'eatherstrip may contact directly with the oor.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the drawings, it will beseen that the present invention provides a desirable device of thischaracter for automatically closing the opening between the lower end orbottom of the door and the threshold or door when the door is closed, soas to shut out or exclude noises, light, air, dust, water, odors and thelike.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is 1. Thecombination with a door, of a pair of bearing blocks carried by thelower end of the door adjacent its edges, one of the blocks normallyseating outwardly, a flexible truss rod having its extremities engagingthe blocks, a weather strip carried by the intermediate portion of therod, means for adjusting the other block for adjusting the normalposition of the truss rod, and an adjustable member carried. by theformer block and adapted to contact with the jamb of the door when thedoor is closed so asto flex the rod and depress the weather strip.

2. The combination with a door having a recess in its lower endextending from edge to edge; face plates attached to the edges of thedoor over the ends of the recess,fand having opposite bushingsprojecting into the ably mounted in the bushings, one of the bearingblocks normally seating outwardly 1n the corresponding bushings; a trussrod having its extremities engaging the said blocks; a weather stripcarried by the intermediate portion of the truss rod; me e for forcingthe said block inwardly wh the door is closed so as to flex the rod anddepress the weather strip, and means for adjusting the other bearingblock so as, to adjust the normal position of the truss rod. 3. Thecombination with a door having a recess in its lower end extending fromedge to edge; face plates, attached to the edges of the door overthe.ends of the re- Tess, having opposite bushings projecting intotherecess, and'having bores extending I therethrough and throughthebushings, the

bores within thebushings being enlarged and non-circular;- non-circularbearin blocks-slidably mounted inlthe enlarged and 40non-cireular-portions of the said bores, one i of the bearing blocksnormally seating out wardly in the corresponding bushing; a flexibletruss rod having its ends engaging the bearing blocks; an adjustablemember 15 carried by the said bearing block and proejecting beyond theedge of the door to strike the door jamb; means for adjusting the otherblock so as to adjust the normal position of the truss rod; and aweather strip i0 calried by the intermediate portion of the ro 4. Thecombination with a door having recess; bearing blocks slid-,

a recess in its lower end extending from edge to edge; face platesattached to the edges of the door over the ends of the recess,

and non-circular and one of the bushings having a partition therein;non-circularbearing blocks slidably mounted in the bushings, the bearingblock in theother bushing normally seating outwardly therein; a screwengaged to the outer end of the block in the former bushing, and havinga reduced extension passing through the said partition; a screw engagedto the outer end of the'former block and projecting beyond the edge ofthe jamb when the door is closed; a flexible truss rod having itsextremities engaging in the said sockets; and a weather strip carried bythe intermediate portion of the said rod.

5. The combination with a door, of a flexible truss rod terminallysupported by the door, a weather stri carried b the intermediate portionof t e truss r0 means for limitingthe outward movements of the ends ofthe truss rod, one of said means being adjustable to adjust the normalflexed position of the truss rod, and means whereby the truss rod i s'given an end thrust when the door is closed so as to depress the weatherstrip.

' 6. The combination with a door, of a pair of bearings carried thereby,a truss rod terminally supported by the bearings, a

door so as to strike the door being en argedzs weather strip carried bythe intermediate portion of the truss rod, on'e of the bearings seatingoutwardly, and an adjustable outwardly seatin member carried by theother bearing for a justing the normal flexed position of the truss rod,one bearing being adapted to be forced inwardly when the door is closedso as to flex the truss rod and depress the weather strip. 1

In testimony that I claim vthe foregoing as my own,'I have hereto afixedmy signature in therpresence of two witnesses.

PETER M. WICKSTRUM. Witnesses:

C. M. Wrcxsrnum, A. D, HARRIS.

